The director Van Vriesoord, a large logistics center for cooled and frozen products in Boxtel, has received a 240 -hour work sentence. According to the court in Den Bosch, he is guilty of a industrial accident that cost the lives of a 50-year-old employee more than three years ago. He was buried under a rack with more than 1500 kilos of frozen goods.
The fatal industrial accident will be on the Kruisbroeksestraat’s director on a fine of 150,000 euros, the judge determined on Monday afternoon. The statement elicited a loud applause from the dozens of people on Monday in the courtroom: Simone Kerkhof, the 50-year-old wife of the victim, their children of 21 and 23, other family members and friends.
The victim, Nicky Kerkhof, has been working at the Boxtel company for ten years. On the morning of Wednesday, February 9, 2022, he drove his forklift truck through a freezer. He was moving pallets in a narrow aisle when he rode a pallet. The rack on which that pallet lay tilted. Research showed that, because it was not well confirmed and inspected.
Kerkhof ended up under the pallets and could only be freed for some time after the statement had collapsed. First a large amount of pallets and boxes had to be removed. First aid to no longer could benefit: the victim had died as a result of suffocation due to great pressure on the chest.
According to the judge, the accident had been prevented when the company had taken enough precautions. Now it was asking for problems. That observation was extra painful, because there were already incidents at the same company.
“Very nice that it has now been made clear how heavily negligent the company has been.”
“We knew since the day my husband died, that he would never come back. And that a statement from the judge cannot change anything in this,” says Simone Kerkhof, “we think it is great that it has now been made clear how hard the company has been. And that we have not told the whole story either.”
During the substantive handling of the case, two weeks ago, the woman already made clear how much suffering was caused by the industrial accident. But also that she and her children have annoyed the attitude of the company. The company was accused of withheld information. The company also suggested that the death of her husband was not related to the collapse of the statement.
Simone: “My husband was killed by suffocation. Again: he will never come back. I hope it has been a wise lesson for the company: that you should not deal with safety as lightly.”
“I hope the company now leaves us alone.”
Simone and her children had to wait for more than three years for the statement. That could have led to a sentence reduction for the director, but the court felt nothing for that in this case. It was due to the defense that it all took so long.
There is a chance that the lawyer will appeal on behalf of the director and his company. Simone hopes that this will be saved: “I didn’t ask for my right to speak after this statement.”
Police and Labor Inspectorate immediately investigated:
